Saturday, 20 March 2010

Riccardo Ricco - the snake! - Part 3

This is turning into a gossip column!
This week Riccardo Ricco returns to the peloton at the Coppi et Bartali race in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. And, on the face of it, he finally appears to be showing some understanding of just what he's actually done.

"I made a mistake, I know, but I’m human, too and people make mistakes in life. I’m sorry. I want to apologise to all the cycling fans, cyclists, officials, journalists, everyone in the world of cycling. My errors are part of my past and from now on you’ll get to know a new Riccardo." he said this week.

But don't be fooled! This is the same snake who said of his CERA positive girlfriend (and mother of his baby), Vania Rossi (above): "I am disappointed with my girlfriend and there can be no reconciliation until Vania is shown to be innocent of the allegations that were raised". Pot, kettle, black?

But there is, hopefully, some good news. Giro D'Italia organiser, Angelo Zomegnan, appeared to rule out any return to this years race for Ricco and his team. Although he didn't mention any names he was quoted as saying “At the 2010 Giro d’Italia, there will be riders in quarantine. In the past we have put our faith in riders who didn’t deserve it, as time showed later on (Di Luca perhaps?). From this experience, we learnt that whoever has to be invited to the Giro will have to be patient for a certain period of time.”